Baltimore Infill Survey Brings Wealth of Ideas for Impoverished Neighborhoods

The Baltimore Infill Survey is an online creative discussion showcasing proposals from around the world for how to better utilize vacant space in Baltimore.  The Survey is conducted entirely through its Flickr photostream, set up by Gary Kachadourian of the Baltimore Office of Promotion and the Arts, and is open to anyone who wants to submit an idea.  The only rules are that the idea must be done as an adaptation to the "stock image," which can be downloaded off the photostream, of a vacant lot with Baltimore rowhomes on either side of it.  Participants then simply add their ideas to the space in the vacant lot using Photoshop or other photo editing software.  Once the image and any accompanying text are complete,  the participant simply emails the data to Mr. Kachadourian who posts them onto the Flickr photostream.

So far 50 proposals have been uploaded since the project began in January of this year, coming from locations as far flung as Dehli, India, Oslo, Norway and La Paz, Bolivia.  Participants range from architects showcasing urban planning concepts to visual artists proposing public art installations to environmentalists finding green, sustainable uses for the space--and often a mixture of all of the above.  One submission from Elena Gonzalez Torres of Spain consisted solely of a sign saying "Warning: Earth Breathing Do Not Disturb!" along with the Seal of the City of Baltimore (a nice touch).  The caption below the Flickr photostream reads "No more egos, please". 

Ideas for what to do with vacant space are badly needed in the City of Baltimore, which has seen its population decline from 1 million in the 1950s to barely 650,000 today due to de-industrialization, racial issues, white flight, crime and drugs (see The Wire).  This chain of events has left the city virtually one-third empty in some of its most hard hit neighborhoods, with the vacant properties providing breeding grounds for rats, crime, and drug abuse.  Discussions about what to do with all the vacant space at the community group Baltimore Design Conversations led to the Infill Survey which was subsequently emailed out to local architecture and design lists and posted on the website Death by Architecture, which lists competitions and surveys from around the world.  From there it took off organically and ideas from around the world came in to help some of the poorest blocks in America.

Online projects such as the Baltimore Infill Survey provide a glimpse at the new, democratic role ideas from the general public can play in urban planning, public policy and nearly unlimited areas of human endeavor simply by allowing an open exchange over the Internet.  No longer do the ideas of government--or other institutions for that matter--need to be limited to what a few civil servants sitting around a creaky old conference table can muster up.  In this instance architects, designers, urban planners and thinkers from numerous countries, backgrounds, and approaches have brought the City of Baltimore a wealth of ideas as to how to revitalize some of its most impoverished spaces that would have cost thousands upon thousands of dollars if the City had commissioned them outright.  The truth is that people, in all sorts of professions, do care about the world and community around them and are willing and even happy to devote their time and talents to come up with good ideas for causes that interest them.

LINKS:

Change Baltimore: Baltimore Infill Surey Proposal: Vertical Farm/Arabber Stable

Urban Palimpset: Baltimore Infill Survey

Baltimore Sun: Web site sparks creative ideas for Baltimore's vacant lots